J-E-T-S Postgame

I didn’t think the 49ers had the talent to beat the Jets and I’m not sure the 49ers did either. Why would you gamble on an onside kick and a fourth-and-short on your own side of the field if you thought you had the talent to win? It goes to show how much difference a respected, motivating coach can make. The players continue to rave about Mike Singletary. Here are some locker room highlights:

-Joe Staley said once he recovered the ball in the end zone for his first quarter touchdown, he started yelling, “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” Staley said in the past that if he ever scored he would do the “jiggle” dance, a number that includes jiggling his belly. “I didn’t want to make too much of a fool of myself.” Instead Staley did a monster spike.

-33 rushes and 39 passes for the Mike Martz offense. He also got a compliment from Mike Singletary after the first quarter, he came over and said, “Great game plan.” One underrated feature of the Martz offense, mostly by Martz himself, is the running game. It uses miss direction and it’s varied. One defensive player said he used to hate to see it when Martz was with the Rams, and he was relieved when Martz would go back to the pass. Now, Martz has a head coach with the stones to tell him to run the ball.

-The turning point for this team might have come in Dallas during a post-game gathering. Singletary told his team that they were putting forth championship effort, but then he pointed to his head. He told the team if they didn’t play smarter, there was nothing he could do for them. Those who were there said the speech was like something out of a movie.

-Frank Gore limped slowly out of the locker room and he was glum. Gore played with a sprained ankle for most of last season. The 49ers are playing so many young players now, as Helldog mentioned, why not bring up Thomas Clayton?

-On Shaun Hill’s touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson, there was a question as to whether Johnson was the intended receiver. Hill said he was.

-On the fourth down play where Kris Jenkins was drawn off-sides, the 49ers weren’t going to snap it. Center Eric Heitmann said Jenkins had been jumping the snap all day, so they went with a double cadence and Jenkins jumped.

-Hill said he tried not to think about playing against Brett Favre during the week. But he admitted that once he reached the locker room, it hit him that he had just beaten a legend.

-I don’t know who got game balls, but one each should have gone to nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin, and center Eric Heitmann. They did one of Singletary’s five edicts which was, “dominating in the trenches.”

-Isaac Sopoaga is waiting for someone to ask to do the Haka. The war dance he performed after a win early in the season. “It’s either going to be coach Martz or one of the equipment guys,” Sopoaga said.